Weeheew

Hay, buti nalang medyo matatapos na ang mga paghihirap ko sa pagsasanay sa trabaho.

Kahapon nanood kami ng Evan Almighty at The Simpsons Movie. Ok lang naman yung Evan Almighty, tapos nakakatawa yung Simpsons.

Spiderpig spiderpig!
Does whatever a spiderpig does.
Can he swing from a web?
No he can't he's a pig.
Lookout!
He is a spiderpig.

Nag-ehersisyo kami kaninang hapon, tapos kumain sa fast food. Husay ano.

Pag-uwi ko kanina nailagay na ni Mom yung mga decorasyon at palamuti para sa nalalapit na pagsapit ng pasko. Nakaklungkot din dahil naalala kong kami lang dalawa ang narito sa bahay, nasa ibang bansa yung tatay at mga kapatid ko ng mga panahong iyon.

Bakit nga ba hindi pa ako natutulog?

Ratatouille

Good.

I thought it was only a boring 3D animation movie about a rat that can cook, but wait, there was more.

In the beginning there is this character, Anton Ego, a critic, who says that he doesn't think that anyone can do it (cook). Then the main character in the movie is a rat named Remy who cooks like a professional chef.

The movie is about Remy, a rat with a "highly developed sense of taste and smell" who gets fond of cooking and the "teachings" of Chef Gusteau, one of the best chefs in Paris. With the events in the movie, Remy becomes a "chef" in Chef Gusteau’s restaurant. The movie ended with Anton Ego, who didn't like Chef Gusteau's cooking, liking Remy's cooking.

I liked the movie with its metaphors (e.g. the rat is only a symbol denoting something generally unaccepted) and messages relating to ideas about the family, work, humans and rats, and, above all, criticisms.

"If you focus on what you've left behind, you'll never see what lies ahead."

The movie ends along with Anton Ego's line:
"In many ways, the work of a critic is easy. We risk very little yet enjoy a position over those who offer up their work and their selves to our judgment. We thrive on negative criticism, which is fun to write and to read. But the bitter truth we critics must face is that, in the grand scheme of things, the average piece of junk is more meaningful than our criticism designating it so. But there are times when a critic truly risks something, and that is in the discovery and defense of the new.
Last night, I experienced something new, an extraordinary meal from a singularly unexpected source. To say that both the meal and its maker have challenged my preconceptions about fine cooking is a gross understatement. They have rocked me to my core. In the past, I have made no secret of my disdain for Chef Gusteau’s famous motto: Anyone can cook. But I realize that only now do I truly understand what he meant. Not everyone can become a great artist, but a great artist can come from anywhere. It is difficult to imagine more humble origins than those of the genius now cooking at Gusteau’s, who is, in this critic’s opinion, nothing less than the finest chef in France. I will be returning to Gusteau’s soon, hungry for more."

List of all computer games that I have played

NES
Super Mario
Super Mario 3
Super Contra
Adventure Island
Tetris
Battle City

Gameboy Classic
Dragon Slayer
Doctor Mario
Mahjong
Motocross Maniacs
Othello

Sega Megadrive
Sonic The Hedgehog 3
Slam Dunk
Power Rangers The Movie (lol)
X-men: Clone Wars
WWF ... something

Arcade
Super Mario
Dungeons & Dragons: Shadow over Mystara
Tekken 3
Tekken 4
Tekken Tag Tournament
Metal Slug 3
Metal Slug 4

SNES
Tales of Phantasia
Chrono Trigger
Final Fantasy III (6)
Bahamut Lagoon
NBA Jam
NBA Live's
Zelda 3
Dragon Ball Z: Hyper Dimension
Dragon Ball Z 2
Dragon Ball Z 3
Donkey Kong 2

Nintendo 64
Mario 64
Starfox 64
Zelda: The Ocarina of Time
Zelda: The Mask of Majora

Playstation
Chrono Cross
Final Fantasy VII
Final Fantasy VIII
Final Fantasy IX
Crash Team Racing
Dance Dance Revolution 3rd Remix
Tekken 3
Bust-A-Groove

Playstation 2
Tekken Tag Tournament
Tekken 4
Tekken 5
Need For Speed Most Wanted
Fight Night 3

PC
Actua Soccer
Command & Conquer: Red Alert
Command & Conquer: Red Alert 2
Command & Conquer: Tiberian Sun
Counter Strike
Counter Strike: Condition Zero
Dance Mania
Devil May Cry 3: Dante's Awakening
Diablo 2
Diablo 2: Lord of Destruction
Doom
Doom (Final)
Doom 3
Duke Nukem
Earthworm Jim
Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind + Tribunal + Bloodmoon
Gunbound
Half Life
Heroes of Might and Magic 3: The Restoration of Erathia + Armageddon's Blade
Last Chaos
Might and Magic 7
Might and Magic 8
NBA Action
NBA Live's
Need For Speed Underground
Need For Speed Underground 2
Need For Speed Most Wanted
Neverwinter Nights
Neverwinter Nights: HotU
Neverwinter Nights: SOU
Quake
Quake 3
Ragnarok Online
ROSE Online
Sid Meier's Pirates!
Starcraft
Starcraft: Brood War
Terminal Velocity
Test Drive 4
Unreal Tournament
Unreal Tournament 2004
Warcraft III: Reign of Chaos
Warcraft III: Frozen Throne
World of Warcraft
Worms
Worms 4 Mayhem

Mac
Oni
Warcraft III: Reign of Chaos
Warcraft III: Frozen Throne

12/26/06

Final Fantasy XIII (XBOX 360)
Dragon Age (PC)
Mass Effect 2 (PC)
StarCraft II (PC)
Bayonetta (XBOX 360)
Devil May Cry 4 (PS3)

Transformers (2007)

Good.

The military and all their stuff, robots, science fiction, government conspiracies, evil man philosophy, a hot girl mechanic, computers, gadgets, and sports cars. Put them all together and you have this movie.

It's about the Autobots, the "evil" Decepticons, and their war about the All Spark that could be used either to recreate their planet or to destroy anything. The All Spark found itself on Earth. The leader of the Decepticons, Megatron, found out about this and went to the Earth to retrieve it. Unfortunately for him, it was located in the Arctic Circle so he got frozen. Then an expedition group found Megatron and the All Spark and then, somehow, the US government was able to retrieve, preserve and classify the alien stuff as super top secret. The leader of the expedition, Archibald Witwicky, accidentally activated Megatron's navigation system and Megatron was able to imprint the coordinates of the location of the All Spark on Archibald's glasses. Soon afterwards, Autobots and Decepticons fought for the All Spark involving humans in the process.

I liked the visual effects but there are scenes that are too dirty. I wasn't able to view the details of the animation of some parts. It's like I get it there's a fight, but all I see is dirt and dust. The audio is pretty neat as well. The voices of the robots are pretty convincing.

I'm actually quite disappointed about the plot because the film wasn't able to tackle about the intentions of the betrayal of Megatron. It's very one sided.

It's funny that the Autobots chose non-battle vehicles (sports car, truck) while the Decepticons got the war vehicles (tank, helicopter, airplane). It reminds me of the animated series Beast Wars transformers where Optimus Prime became a Gorilla and Megatron became a Tyrannosaurus Rex. There was also an Autobot that became a rat. Who would want that? Lol. If I were an Autobot, I'd disguise myself as a naval battleship or a fighter plane like the Decepticon Starscream. I wouldn't go for the sports car because it can't fly. XD Go for the best. It's evident though that the way they choose what they become has something to do with their role. It’s a sort of representation of the constructive/destructive characteristics that they have. As the song goes, "You can't talk peace and have a gun." The funny thing is that both of the sides have the war related gadgets.

Some interesting lines from the movie:
"We've learned Earth's languages through the world wide web."
This is the most interesting one:
"If there were some sort of alien infestation, then the government would be the first to let us know. That's how we know we live in a free land because there are no secrets."
Ha, ha, haha.

The Game Plan

Good.

It's a wholesome movie about a selfish american football quarterback and his daughter, that he didn't know about, who knocked on his door, entered and changed his life.

It stars The Rock who is better at acting in this film. I think that his 'wrestling' experience helped in his acting career. He smiled, sang songs, danced ballet, and acted. It's like The Rock joining the Mickey Mouse club. But, in fairness to him, he did well.

His daughter is played by Madison Pettis who did very well in playing her part. I'm quite sure that she is part of the club that The Rock recently joined.

The concept of the movie is not totally new but it works nicely as a family movie.

Ano ba ang tagalog ng weekend?

• Nanood kami ng Pirates of the Carribean: At World's End. Hindi ko masyado nagustuhan.
• Pumunta sa Mall of Asia para gunitain ang kaarawan ni Alvin sa pamamagitan ng paglamon ng pizza. Mga larawan dito.
  
• Balik training this week.
• Yes, yun lang.
  

Provocative fashion tips, anyone?

Fashion tips for women from a guy who knows dick about fashion.

Provocative yet, somehow, funny tips on crocs, red lipsticks, Cuban hats, titled T-shirts, funny dresses and "curtains".

Nagpunta ako sa simbahan!

After 10 years, nakadaan akong muli sa Immaculate Concepcion Parish church na sobrang lapit lang sa tinitirahan namin. Halos walang pinagbago ito, ganoon pa rin ang hitsura nito sa loob at labas. Naalala ko tuloy ang grade school at high school dahil nagpapamisa at nagsisimba ang mga tao sa iskwelahan namin sa simbahang iyon kapag unang biyernes ng buwan.

Dumaan ako sa simbahan upang magtirik ng mga kandila para sa mga minamahal naming sumakabilang buhay na. Tatlo yung itinirik kong kandila, parang "I love you" lang. Doon sa tirikan, may parang pila dahil yung iba ay nagdarasal kaalinsunod ng pagtitirik ng kandila at yung iba naman ay sadyang matagal magtirik marahil dahil marami silang itinitirik na kandila. Napansin ko yung babaeng nasa harap ko sa pila dahil lampas dalawampu yung hawak niyang kandila. Napalipat talaga ako ng pila.

Ngayon lang ulit ako nakapasok sa isang simbahan. Hindi ko na maalala kung kailan ang huli kong pagpunta sa mga ganitong lugar.

Ngayon ko lang nalaman(naalala?) na may tamang damit pala sa pagsisimba. Naka-pangbahay kasi akong pumunta kanina at nakita ko yung isang papel na nakapaskel sa isang pader na nagsasabi ng mga nararapat na isuot sa simbahan. Ayon din sa papel, pangpalengke ang suot ko. Wala namang pumuna sa akin dahil marami rin namang mga taong katulad ng sa akin ang suot.

Video Games and Future Leaders

Tomorrow's finest leaders may well be today's gamers

Above is the link to a chewy article that avenges the idea of spending an awful lot of time playing video games. It focuses on the fact that gamers, by playing video games, must have developed good problem solving skills and better logical thinking among other things (resource management, risk analysis, micro management, efficiency, etc.) and are therefore fit to become future leaders.

Although it greatly depends on its genre, video games, especially the modern ones, are essentially bundles of problems that need to be solved. This means that playing a game is similar to solving many problems either simultaneously or linearly. Gamers are therefore good at thinking of solutions because of the amount of problems that need to be solved before completing a game.

Games are made by piecing ideas in a logical manner. I think that playing them develops logical thinking because the players have to understand the logic behind the game in order to play effectively.

As mentioned earlier, the learning factor depends on the genre of the game because, I think, a gamer can learn more from a strategy game where the player devises strategies and implements them in order to achieve a goal rather than a death match first person shooter where players just roam around and kill each other. The latter is fun and thrilling but not very enriching because at the end of each match, the player wouldn't have planned and just acted out of instinct. Meaning, the player wouldn't know what he/she did wrong and most likely repeat the same thing in other situations. This can be good though in developing fast decision making.

So in a sense, playing video games is not only something to fend off boredom. If anything, depending on how the gamer takes it, it can be very enriching allowing gamers to develop skills that are cool to have.